INTERVIEWS

05/02/01 -Charaso.com by Toshihiro Ichikawa and Shoichi Izumi
08/25/01 -Kadokawa special character design magazine
10/08/01 - THE FACE by Oliver Hurley
10/31/01 - GoodDealGames.com by Michael Thomasson
11/19/01 - MOE magazine

05/02/01 -Charaso.com by Toshihiro Ichikawa and Shoichi Izumi

1. What did you like, and what influenced you when you were a child?
I always liked to draw. Even at 3 years old I was beginning to draw things. My mother liked art, and she encouraged me. My father also recognized my talent, even at a very early age, and he also encouraged me. I watched many TV cartoons, and was very inspired by those. Warner Brothers cartoons (Bugs Bunny), Jay Ward cartoons (Bullwinkle), Hanna Barbarra (Johnny Quest, Jetsons) were some of my favorites. I also loved some Japanese TV shows that were dubbed in English - Ultraman, Speed Racer, Astroboy, Gigantor and others. I lived in California then, and visited Disneyland many times.

2. If there is any, please tell us your habits from when you were a child?
I liked building things, and I had many Legos and other construction kits. I also build plastic models of cars and military equipment. Sometimes I would combine these kits and make my own designs. I also liked electric model trains, and I built a very large model town.

3. When do you come up with your new characters? Please tell us the story of the moment of the birth of your character.
All my ideas, characters, paintings, sculptures, illustrations, books, come from my sketch book. All my rough drawings are there, and it is easy too look back at ideas that I didn't use. I have been using the same size sketch book 9 x 12 inches for over 12 years. I have more than 40 of them. Sometimes the sketches are for projects, while others are just crazy open thinking. I have no set time to work in my sketchbook. Sometimes it is everyday, and sometimes I don't get to it for a week. I love to draw funny characters, and my sketchbooks have many examples. When I am working doing a character for a client or publisher, I only use my sketchbook for the first ideas. When I draw something I think might work, I bring it over to the computer for refinement. I almost never show the client or publisher my sketchbook. It is my private thinking area.

4. About how many rough copies do you sketch before it becomes perfect?
About 5 to 10 roughs before I show it to anyone.

5. How do you think of the character's names?
I make lists of words next to the drawing of the character. I try to make these words into names. I use English and Japanese words that I get from a small Japanese/English Dictionary. Sometimes the name just pops out of the list. Then I ask all my Japanese and English speaking friends and clients what they think.

6. Do you think of the characteristics of the characters after or while making the character?
Sometimes the character's personality comes from his picture. Other times I have an idea for a type of personality, and I try to illustrate that. Often the client or publisher has an idea they would like me to create. This becomes a kind of collaboration. I try to make a surprising character that fits their requirements. Sometimes this is a big challenge.

7. Please tell us if there is anything that you particularly care when you create a character.
It has to be interesting to me. It should make me laugh or smile. It has to be good enough that I am interested to create a world for that character. If it is too simple, or too complicated I may loose interest.

8. After that character is made, do you give the decision on whether it is good or not? Do you ask your friends and families for an opinion? Is your personal opinion on your own character accepted to your family and friends?
Sometimes I ask my family and friends for their opinion, but not always. I am very interested in what the client or publisher has to say. If they are willing to pay for and promote a character, then I want it to fit their requirements, and also go past their expectations. If they want changes, I think about this carefully and try to make it better.

9. Please tell us a story on how Parappa was born.
The concept for Parappa came from the game creator Masaya Matsuura. He was designing a music based Playstation game, and he asked me to design the characters and the world the game would take place it. Matsuura-san and I have been collaborating for 5 years now on characters. He usually has a funny idea for the personality, and expects me to come up with a perfect visual. Sometimes it is easy, (Parappa), and sometimes it is difficult (Lammy). It is always fun and challenging. Matsuura-san had the idea for Parappa's personality. I had been doing "animal people" in my CDrom Dazzeloids, and he liked the "animal people" idea. I immediately imagined Parappa to be a dog. It took about two weeks to choose the final design. Etsuko Yokozeki at Sony Creative Products also helped me choose the final.

10. Not only being an illustrator, you have interfuse with the multi-media and became the known author Rodney. If you have the opportunity to title yourself what would it be?
I only want to be known as an artist. It is hard to define what art is, or what an artist does. That is why I want to be an artist.

11. Not only creating illustrations you have created story, CD-ROM and games and the Rodney world view has inspired the media. How much are you involved with the production?
I used to be very interested in production. In my CDroms from the early 90's I wrote the stories, worked on the animation, did the music and some of the voices, and even some of the computer programming. It was really too much, but important to show the world that I had a total vision. Now I am much happier doing the things that I am best at, and working with others who also do what they are best at. My talent is in design and , so I am happy to work as the designer. I am good at coming up with concepts also, so I am happy to supply concepts. Now I feel it is not right for me to do much production work.

12. On top of the world fame, why do you think your character has gain enormous fame in Japan?
This is a difficult question. There are many possibilities.
a. The market for cartoons and illustration is different in Japan than it is in the US. Big companies use cartoon characters more frequently in Japan.
b. Adults in Japan are comfortable reading comic books, and there is a big market for this.
c. The use of bright color in advertising and publishing is more common in Japan.
d. The people who promote my work in Japan are very talented.
e. There is a love of cute things in Japan. I love cute things also.
f. I am friendly and honest, and am no problem to work with.
g. All of the above.

13. Looking back on all of your work, what or who is your favorite character?
PJ Berri is probably my favorite. My original idea was a bear who only likes to eat and sleep. Then my friends at Sony Creative asked me to draw him as a DJ in a night club. I thought this was a funny idea. When I discovered PJ was a cool DJ at night, and only liked to eat and sleep during the day, I really fell in love with this character. He has a great life. There is something very simple about his design, yet he is very expressive.

14. If you have not been doing this job, what would you think you would be doing?
If I had not had the opportunity I have in Japan, I probably would have continued to push US companies for a television show.

15. Would you tell us the reason you have newly opened an office in SOHO, NY?
Actually I have lived and worked in this same place in Soho, New York City, for more than twelve years. New York is one of the world's great cities, and everyone who is great visits here sometime.

16. What are your latest interests you have found in books, movies, or inspiration?
Lately I have been interested in old American silent movies from the 1920's. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies are being republished on DVD. They are really great movies. Last fall I was very interested in Godzilla. I collected all Godzilla's movies dubbed in English. I have all 24 movies on VHS.

17. Would you tell us your future plans or goals?
It would be fun to someday make a movie.

18. To work creative, what do you think is the greatest motivation?
My basic motivation is to entertain myself. If I think it is fun to do, or it makes me smile or laugh, then I feel like I am doing something good.

19. What kind of talent do you think is necessary for designing a character?
If you are an artist,designing characters is not that difficult, but designing characters that become famous is VERY DIFFICULT. It takes many people to make a character popular. Collaborating with clients and publishers is a very big part of the job.

20. What will your advice be if your children says " I want to be a character designer"?
a.You have to have style - something that is recognizable to clients and publishers as different and attractive. This can take years to develop. Be patient.
b. You have to be consistent. Client and publishers will want you to do the same thing many times.
c.You be able to work quickly. Clients and publishers want it fast.
d. I think is important to be able to do illustration. Character design is similar to illustration in many ways.
e. Experience with animation is important too. Characters have to feel alive, so knowing how to animate will help you understand body language and movement.
f. As I said before you have to be able to work with other people. Your character will never go anywhere if people don't want to work with you.
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08/25/01 Kadokawa special character design magazine

1. Why and how did you start painting?
When I was in high school I had great musical talent, and I was about to become a very famous rock star. My high school music teacher realized this and was very jealous. He was really an evil scientist, and he captured me and took me to his secret lab, where he had a machine to steal my musical talent and put it into his body. He had many talents in jars stolen from other artists and geniuses. He stole my musical talent, but by accident gave me someone's incredible visual artist talent. Now I am a great visual artist, but I have lost my musical talent. My teacher went on to be a famous rock star. Someday I will get my revenge.

2. When did you establish your own illustration (painting and drawing?) style?
One day in 1977 I was walking in the woods. It became dark and stormy. There was wind and pouring rain. For shelter I jumped into the burnt out belly of a huge tree. Inside I was surprised to meet a tiny old man. He told me he was once the greatest artist in the world, but an evil spell had been cast on him. He could never leave the tree where he was imprisoned. I stayed with him for 3 months and he taught me my style as an artist. One day he told me he would explain his secret to me, and the reason why he was imprisoned. First he told me to get his favorite tea from the nearby town. When I returned the tree was gone. I never saw him again.

3. Which characters or items were you influenced by?
When I was a child I was given a small toy television set. It was given to me by my old aunt who had once been a princess in Russia. The next day she died. I loved the toy television, and I even slept with it. One night I discovered it really worked! I could watch strange foreign animated cartoons, they were obviously dubbed in English so I could understand them. The strange part is no one could see the cartoons except me. I was greatly influenced by these cartoons. My favorite was called Bahboo Gooseman. He as a great hero, but he cried often. I still have the toy television, but it is hidden in a place where no one will ever find it.

4. Among your characters, which did you firstly design?
My first character was Jojo the Potato. I drew him when I was 3 years old. It was a very simple character, just a lumpy circle with a line and a dot for a face. I made many drawings of Jojo. Jojo at night. Jojo on the wall. Jojo in a fire. He was very popular with other children at my preschool. They all began to draw Jojo too.

5. Which is your favorite character among yours?
My favorite character that I have created is Pitibug. I have never shown this character to anyone. It is so cute, that if anyone sees it they immediately start crying with joy. I am afraid some people will not be able to stop crying or laughing when they see Pitibug, and become ill. I have decided never to show it.

6. How do you describe your personality(character) in one word?
Shygantic.

7. Where and how do you usually get your ideas from?
I get my ideas from a book that was given to me by my old aunt who had once been a princess in Russia. This book is filled with incredible ideas. There is an index in the back, so all I have to do is look up a word, and there are usually two or three good ideas for each word. The strange thing is even though this book was written more than 100 years ago, it has ideas for things like "computer software" and "snowboard". It is really amazing!

8. What kinds of thing, matter, and people are you most interested in right now? (specifically please)
It seems like everyone is interested in hitting themselves on the head with a wooden plate. I've noticed wooden plate head hitting is a growing fad in the US and Japan. Recently Sony has contracted me to design characters to print on these wooden plates. I think we will have a very successful product.

9. What is your future plan? What do you want to do, or planning to do in your future?
I want to see what it is like to have four or five more wives, and live in a palace where they will attend to my every need. Each one of these wives will be a specialist of some sort, like a nutritionist, a masseuse, a gardener, a musician, or an auto mechanic.We will all be fantastically rich.

10. How did the idea of Thunder Bunny evolve?
One day my kids got a real bunny at a fair. It was a cute brown bunny at first, but as the weeks went by it got bigger and bigger. It was a very aggressive bunny, and it chased our cat, and ate all the house plants. It would kick and bite, and we could not control it. It was the size of a large dog when it escaped from the cage. It hid in Central park, and ate dogs and pidgeons. It was the size of an elephant when the police found it. They tried to shoot it but the bullets just made it more powerful, and it grew larger. The army came a fired laser canons which made it even bigger and madder. It destroyed half the city before someone with ESP used mind control to lure it into the ocean. It has not been seen since.

11. Please give a message to your Japanese readers.
Dear Fans, Maybe not all my answers in this interview are true, but my idea is to be creative and think differently about things. Society usually presents us with a limited number of options. If these options are not suitable to you, it may be better to try to create new options rather than trying to conform yourself.
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10/08/01 Oliver Hurley for THE FACE

1. What inspired the look of the Parappa games?
The look was inspired by my artwork, especially my CD-ROM "Dazzeloids" from 1994, and My children's books "Uncle Wizzmo" and "Aunt Ippy". Masaya Matsuura and his wife Kiri were big fans of these works.

2. Why are all the characters 2D?
We all agreed (Myself and the team), that my style would best be translated into the Playstation 3d environment, by maintaining the natural 2d quality of my drawing. We were not sure if this would work at first, but after a few tests, it was obviously fun.

3. What sort of dog is Parappa?
Do you mean"what breed?" I guess he is a terrier of some sort. Or do you mean "what is his nature?" He is loyal, optimistic and a little naive.

4. What is the appeal of the Parappa games?
Funny, smart, musical and non-violent.

5. Do you think enough games take visual risks or do you think they tend to stick to tried & tested formulas?
Most video games stick to tried and tested formulas. It is an economic situation. Games are getting more expensive to produce, and now cost more to buy. Because of the constant introduction of new hardware, the difficulty of making games is getting worse. Consumers can barely keep up with the buying of new hardware. Game companies want only to develop games for very wide audiences. They tend to stick the thier percieved main demographic, teenage boys. We are very lucky, because Parappa was being developed when Playstation 1 had just come out, and was booming. At that time there was a widening market for different categories of games. Now the game companies have becoame more conservative with fewer categories. Sad.

6. Who's your favourite Parappa character and why?
Chop Chop Master Onion is my current favorite. He is smart and tough, and a little foolish. He is wise because he has had his share of hard times. He is spiritual and commercial at the same time.

7. Were you surprised at the success of the first game?
Yes. I worried that Parappa was a rapper, but the music was not the hardcore rap that I was hearing on MTV. I think because I was the only American on the game design side, I was the only one who worried about this. Luckily the concept of rap music in Japan is very different from the US, and the game was a big hit.

8. How do you get the ideas for all the different characters?
Each character's birth is a different situation. Usually Matsuura and Gabin Ito ask me to draw something. Sometimes they have only a very vague notion, and other time they have a very specific request. I usually try to surprise them. Sometimes they love my ideas, and the characters are in on the first try. Other times they make me draw it over and over again. This is painful, but sometimes their pushing me makes me come up with even more bizarre and creative creatures.

Just one final query: who's Gabin Ito?
Gabin Ito is the head writer for Parappa's games. He is well known in Japan for writing stories for a variety of games. He is also a conceptual artist who shows his work in galleries.
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10/31/01 - GoodDealGames.com by Michael Thomasson

1. You claim your website to be the "The Center For Advanced Whimsy" How do you define "whimsy?"
An odd or fanciful idea with a quaint and childlike quality.

2. When one enters Cafe Rodney in Tokyo, what do they first see upon entering? Please describe the atmosphere of the establishment.
There is a blocky, jumbo sized sculpture of a hostess holding a tray. A sign painted "WELCOME" is on her head. The atmosphere is comfortable, clean, colorful, eccentric. The food is light and international.

3. Tell us about your work for Family Mart.
In 1998 a large chain of Japanese convenience stores and their advertising agency decided to hire me to create a whole new line of characters to represent their food products for TV commercials and in store displays. I started with "Marty Bagel" a character to represent Family Mart's new line of delicious New York Style bagel sandwiches. Marty was successful so I went on to design over 15 more characters that were featured in over 10 commercials and many products and displays. I became very famous in Japan as an artist, as Family Mart has over 4000 stores, and plays TV commercials continuously. It was exciting to see my characters all over japan all the time. Unfortunately Family Mart went through a huge corporate shake out, and my project was ended, despite huge popular demand to keep it running.

4. There are many Parappa characters: Cheep Cheap the Cooking Chicken, Chop Chop Master Onion, Joe Chin, Katy Kat, MC King Kong Mushi, Mooselini, Mr. Prince Fleaswallow, P.J. Berri, Sunny Funny, and others. Were the characters designed primarily for the game, or was the game based on pre-existing characters? Which came first?
Only Sunny, Katy and PJ were pre-existing characters before I met the Parappa team. Those three were incorporated into the game to play supporting roles behind Parappa.

5. Who is your personal favorite Parappa character? Why do harbor such feeling for the particular character?
I think PJ Berri is probably my personal favorite. His life style is: lazy, sleepy, during the day - Cool Club DJ at night - all the time eating. I really admire this. PJ is so cool and peaceful, but also will to help his friends any time with any problem.

6. How was the process for designing characters for the sequel, UmJammer Lammy, different from the processes used for Parappa?
Very different. When we started on Parappa 1, we did not know what we were doing. It was all a fun experiment. In Lammy tried to be professional with a bigger budget. I think that turned out to be the problem with Lammy. We worried about the details much more. We all freaked out a little. Still I am proud of my work on that game, and I think it is a great game.

7. Teriyaki Yoko is a favorite here at GDG. What type of development does a character like Teriyaki Yoko and others endure? Do some of the characters evolve and have radical changes while maturing into the final incarnation?
In the Parappa project I collaborate closely with Masaya Matsuura, the game creator, and the writer Gabin Ito. The characters come about in many different ways. Sometimes Matsuura will suggest the personality, and I come up with a character (Parappa, Mooselini). Sometimes Ito has a clear idea of the look, and I try to match it (Teriyaki Yoko, Cathy Pillar). Other time they leave it up to me to figure out the character based on the action (Chop Chop Master Onion, Cheap Cheap Cooking Chicken).

8. Chief Puddle, Mar-San, Paul Chuck, and Rammy - those are all rather unusual names. Where do the obscure names for the characters originate?
Basically it is the same process. Sometimes Matsuura thinks up these names himself (Parappa, Mar-san, Teriyaki Yoko), while other times I do it. (Prince Master Fleaswallow, Chief Puddle, Lammy). We collaborate also, as Matsuura invented the name "Um Jammer Lammy" based on my Lammy idea.

9. Describe the production process between you and Sony? How and when does interaction, brainstorming, critiquing and other stages occur?
I live in New York, and the game is made in Tokyo, so about 4 times a year we meet in either Japan or the US. At these meeting they explain the project to me and I make sketches and and add ideas. Then they usually present me with a list of the materials they need. When those meetings end, on daily basis we work by email. This works out well because of the time difference. I'm working while they sleep - although they don't really sleep very much.

10. The Parappa the Rappa game has a very Japanese influence, of the likes that rarely leave the island of Japan. Were you surprised when Sony decided to release Parappa the Rapper in the United States?
No. I knew they would release it in the states, since all the dialog and song lyrics are in English. The mystery was how would US gamer buyers would react to Parappa. I'm still not sure.

11. Your talents obviously expand beyond illustration. Tell us about your music cd "Baby Sea Robot."
I love to play music, as I have studied piano since I was 7 years old. Unfortunately I don't have much real musical talent. Even so that has not stopped me. The computer has made it much easier to make multi track recordings, so in 1997 I decided to make my own CD of my electronic music experiments. My agent in Japan and I self published it, and got a multimedia branch of Sony in Japan to distribute it. You might still be able to find a copy at Tower Records in Shinjuku. Of course you can save the trip by downloading it all for free from my website www.whimsyload.com.

12. We just have one follow up question: What medium do you use to create your artwork? Is there a particular process that you impliment?
For the game designs and all the design work for products, I use my Macintosh computer. I use a Wacom tablet and pen to draw, using basically 3 pieces of software. 1. Corel Painter - to sketch and design, and also for illustrations. 2. Macromedia Freehand - To create graphics for printed items. 3. Abobe Photoshop - to process graphics. Painter is my main work horse. I use it for story boarding, rough sketches, color concept drawings, and finished illustrations. Since all my commercial artwork is done electronically, I use the Internet to send it all to Japan.
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MOE interview 11/19/01

1. How did the idea of Thunder Bunny evolve? And if you have any unknown episodes for ThunderBunny, can you tell us?
Maybe about ten years ago, my kids brought home a baby bunny from a fair. My wife and I allowed them to keep it. It was a cute brown bunny with very soft fur, but there was something strange about it. On the second week we had it, it got out of it's cage and ate a very large house plant. After a few months it began to grow and grow. It was strong and it chased our cat. I began to think of a story about a bunny that grew and grew. We are now working on a video featuring Thunder Bunny and his friend Wonder Mew. It is a new story about how they help a baby bird. I hope this will be only the first video of a series. I have many Thunder Bunny stories in my head.

2. You have been creating so many characters, but what is ThunderBunny for you among those characters?
Thunder Bunny is special, because he can be popular with very little kids, as well as girls and mothers. Cool teenagers like Thunder Bunny also.

3. Next to the Parappa animation, why was ThunderBunny chosen as a video animation among all your characters? And what kind of story is ThunderBunny video?
Parappa has many opportunities to tell his story, on television and in video games. Thunder Bunny only has his books and products, so we all felt it was time to make and animation for Thunder Bunny.

4. Please tell us the present progress, concepts, and what kind of video it will planned to be.
Now the story and planning are finished. I made some new art to help guide the animation team. The animation team is now creating the video.

5. Could you tell us in secret what kind of new characters will apear in this video?
The new main character is a baby bird who has a very interesting personality. That is all I can say.

6. This is the second collaboration between you and Ito-san. What kind of artist is Ito-san for you? And what kind of requests did you ask him for this video?
Youichi Ito, is a very sensitive and hard working artist. I think we share the same vision, for fun, happy, non-violent, but a little crazy artwork. He likes to tell stories the same way I do. He asks me for very specific details, as well as overall feelings for the characters. He is easy to work with.

7. How do you feel when you see your characters move in animation?
It is very exciting. Like magic.

8. You told us in your interview before that your dream is to make movie animation. Do you have any plan to make a movie after these animation and video animation?
Yes I want to make many fantastic movies. I would like to create characters and worlds as powerful as "Star Wars" and "The Wizard of OZ" or "Totoro", but in a totally new style. Wow! That will be a lot of work!

10. Which is your favorite character? Which characters were you influenced by?
I have been lately looking at video tapes of an old Japanese show called "Kure Kure Takora" I think this is a great character. I love the way he runs around and bumps into the other characters. It is so funny. I can't understand the Japanese dialog, but it is fun to make up what they are saying. Many cartoon characters have influenced me. Top ten (not in order) Gumby, Speed Racer, Bullwinkle, Ultraman, Deputy Dog, Astro boy, Bugs Bunny, Under Dog, Burt and Ernie.

11. On the last MOE interview, you said Rodney Planet in your head has 543,210 unpublished characters. Let us know the progress how it's going on since then.
Things have been very quiet on Rodney's Planet. They are trying to go about their daily business without being noticed. I think they are afraid to visit this world right now.

12. You have created so many characters so far but do you have any favorite character or the one with deep feeling among them?
Today Shy Pu-Pu the dog is my favorite characters. The world is so messed up I feel like a little worried dog who is afraid of everything.

13. What kind of characters do you want to create in the future?
I want to create a character that will save the world. Something like Mickey Mouse, but with the passion of Jesus. Wow! That's going to be difficult too!

14. Your cute dog, Loki is familar to your Japanese fans. Do you have any plan to make Loki into a new character?
Loki is a REAL character! He jumps on my leg and asks to play or go outside. Maybe someday I will make a character based on his personality.

15. What is your future plan? What kind of projects are you working now?
Now I am working on my main characters like Parappa and Thunder Bunny. I am also doing more designs for Docomo Kyushu, and also new cereal boxes for Nissin Ciscorn. I don't know about the future. I keep thinking there must be a way I can make the world more peaceful, but I don't know how. It is hard to imagine.

16. Please give a message to MOE readers.
Currently here in the US most people belive war and violence are necessary to protect our "way of life". I don't agree. I think thoughtfulness and peace are necessary, and maybe we should think carefully about what our "way of life" is. I think my fans in Japan are thoughtful people. If they care enough to buy my products and find out about me, then they must be open minded people. As usual I want to thank my fans very deeply. If you support me and my characters, I will try very hard to give you the best I can and try to make the world better.
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